New research suggests the general population give their "broad endorsement" to stem cell research using pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are made from "skin and stem cells."
The researchers looked at a focus group and found the majority of participants supported the iPSC research even if they would not personally benefit from the research. The group was also largely concerned with "consent, privacy and transparency" in tissue donations, a Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics news release reported.
"Bioethicists, as well as stem cell researchers and policy-makers, have discussed the ethical issues of induced pluripotent stem cells at length, but we didn't have any systematic information about what patients think about these issues, and that is a huge part of the equation if the potential of this research is to be fully realized,"says Jeremy Sugarman, the senior author of the report and the Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Bioethics and Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics.
iPSCs are harvested without destroying a human embryo. This type of research can help create crucial treatments for various conditions, and could one day be used to grow organs for transplantation. Although this goal won't be happening anytime soon, it could allow for organs that the body won't reject (since it is created form one's own cells) in the future.
Consent was the most important ethical issue brought up by the group. There was a "strong desire among participants to have full disclosure of the anticipated uses," the report stated, according to the news release.
Medical researchers could experience "practical difficulties" in honoring this request, but the researchers hope to find a way to get around this.
The research team admitted their results could have been influenced by the small study size and the fact that the participants were all from Baltimore, Maryland and that they were all treated at the same hospital where the first "immortal cell lines" were created using cervical tumor cells from a patient named Henrietta Lacks.
"It seems fair to say that everyone experiences serious illness in their lives, whether themselves or through someone they know and care about, and this influences their opinions of healthcare and research," Sugarman says. "This study is a first step in getting crucial information about what values are factored into a decision to participate in iPSC research, and what those participants expect from the experience."
